


An Arrow Through Your Heart

by moon2pluto



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: A whole lot of angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Ben Solo as Lady Marian, Cinderella Elements, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Lady Rey Kenobi, Prince Ben Solo, Queen Leia Organa, Rey Kenobi, Rey as Robin Hood, Rey being the badass we know she is, Robin Hood AU, Robin Hood References, Robin Hood: King of Thieves, Sexual Tension, a bit of violence at the start, but nothing too graphic and I will warn you beforehand, smut later on, so much sexual tension oh my god, you signed up for a goddamn rollercoaster
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:29:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24008893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moon2pluto/pseuds/moon2pluto
Summary: Lady Rey Kenobi: Less a noblewoman than the soldier who just returned from seven long years of war, only to find her grandfather murdered and her home burned.Prince Ben Solo: A lonely boy, blinded by the lies his royal advisor tells him and pushed into anger, violence, and even losing his name.Rey swears revenge and to save the throne Palpatine is trying to take over while the Queen and King are still out fighting in the war. She makes friends with a bunch of thieves and starts to steal from the rich and give to the poor. She is a thorne in Palpatine's side, one he wishes to be destroyed.Ben is the man sent out to eliminate her.They're two people on opposite sides of a war.But what will happen once their paths cross?------------------------Basically the Robin Hood AU no one asked for.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Finn, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, background stormpilot - Relationship
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> May the 4th be with you! :)  
> It feels very fitting to start this off with you today since this is actually going to be a longer project and I honestly couldn't be more excited!  
> The legend of Robin Hood has always been one of my favourites ever since I was a child, so it was only a matter of time until I had to project it onto my favourite couple :)
> 
> Also, before we start, this first "chapter" is really just the prologue, and be aware that even though no description is very graphic, there are mentions of blood and suicide. 
> 
> I hope you can enjoy this!

It was too late for him when they arrived.  
  
He could see them from his window, an army of maybe a dozen men on horses, not caring about whether they were being noticed.   
  
And he was no fool, he knew what they were here for. He knew what they would do to him. But by god, he didn't think that they would come this early.  
  
He looked down at the paper beneath him, the quill shaking in his hands. Hands that were too old to fight, he knew that. His reflexes, once so sharp, had left him many years ago. Hell, the first time that he had noticed how much gripping a sword hurt his fingers had been seven years ago, shortly before...  
  
She left.  
  
Rey.  
  
Pictures of her rushed into his mind now. Her laughter, her constant teasing, her gentleness. How she was always so full of passion, so determined. So determined, in fact, that she tried to hide ten chickens in her room one winter when she was just a child, claiming that they would be too cold outside. So determined that she had not given in until he agreed to teach her sword-fighting already by the age of eight, despite him thinking that she was still too young to learn such a thing. But she hadn't given up.  
  
She never gave up.  
  
And finally, she was so determined that she had wanted to join the war at only eighteen, as soon as she came of age. They had argued day and night about this, with him wanting to keep her safe as any parent would but her wanting to fight for her country and write her own stories as any child would. In the end, she went.  
  
All this happened seven years ago now.  
  
He hadn't seen her since.   
  
He wasn't worried though, or at least not overly so. He knew that she was still alive. He felt it. She was a fighter at heart, and he had raised her to be the best with the sword as well.  
  
Still, there were so many things that he wished he could tell her. So many things that he needed to tell her. But his time was running short.  
  
The riders wouldn't stay outside the wall forever.  
  
Hastily, he tightened the grip around his quill and set it onto the paper. It was a hopeless task, that's for sure. How could he fill the paper with a lifetime of words in only mere minutes? But he tried, using every second he had.  
  
 _My dear Rey,_ he began, took a breath, and went from there.  
  
Of course, the time was not enough.  
  
Time is never enough.  
  
Soon, screaming from downstairs rang in his ears and he knew that they had defeated his guards now. It was an unfair match from the start; three and an old man against a dozen. He had given them the option to flee, but they had stayed.  
  
Seconds later, a fist banging against the door.  
  
He looked down at the paper again.  
  
It wasn't nearly enough. It was unfair just how much she would have to figure out on her own. But she was smart. If anyone could do this, then it was her.  
  
 _I love you so much, my little one. I'll always be with you until we meet again.  
  
In love, forever and always your grandfather,  
  
Obi-Wan Kenobi.  
_  
This is how his letter ended, prompted by the always louder growing fists and shoulders ramming into the thick wooden door, trying to break it in.  
  
He had mere seconds now.  
  
Obi-Wan quickly sealed the letter and stuffed it into the round, small leather casket and screwed the cap on top shut. Bebe, his falcon, already chirped agitated before his master opened the cage, spreading his wings nervously. As if he felt the tension in the air the usually so stubborn animal stepped onto his arm without hesitation and didn't move as Obi-Wan pushed open the window in a grand gesture.  
  
There was a storm raging outside now. A storm he had been too busy to notice before. The rain was slashing his face, and for the mere fraction of a second, a bolt of lightning lit up the sky.  
  
"Lord Kenobi! I know you are in there, old man, and I have to tell you that it is of no use." He would have recognized Palpatine's voice from anywhere, even if the wind was howling in his ears stronger than ever.  
  
He turned his attention to Bebe again who almost seemed as frightened as Obi-Wan himself.  
  
"Bebe, my loyal friend..." The casket in his hand was already full of raindrops as he gently laid it into Bebe's claws. He gripped onto it almost momentarily, doing exactly what he had been trained to do. "You need to give this to her. To Rey."  
  
Bebe chirped again as the pounding grew louder again, the door giving in a bit more with every thrust.  
  
"Just open up the door, Kenobi, and make this easier for everyone."  
  
"Give this to her. _Find_ her."  
  
The falcon tried his wings again, but this time it seemed as if he wanted to waste more time, as if he didn't want to go yet, knowing he would have to leave his master behind. Obi-Wan stroked his feathers one last time with a sad smile. A poor attempt to calm both of them down.  
  
"I know, dear friend. But now, _go_!"  
  
With a push, he held his hand out into the storm, and Bebe took off into it, not once faltering as the rain enclosed him.  
  
"Find her for me. Be there for her because I can't", was all he still could whisper while he looked after the bird rising higher and higher into the rebellious sky.  
  
Because then, the door broke down.  
  
"Lord Kenobi, what a pleasure to meet you", the slick voice spoke and he had to repress a shudder.  
  
Palpatine's gaze was that of a predator. There was blood still fresh on his armour. If Obi-Wan had had any respect for him, he might have thought that he looked like a lion after a gruesome meal.   
  
"I would return the sentiment, but breaking into one's castle and killing all their guards does seem rather rude, doesn't it?", he retorted instead.  
  
Palpatine just chuckled. "Still the old wit, I see. But truly, it saddens me that things have gone this way. You could have just sworn your loyalty to me, you know? Then we wouldn't have to stand here right now."  
  
"Then I would be a liar _and_ a traitor." Palpatine made one step towards Obi-Wan, and he made one back until his knees hit the window sill and he could feel the rain rushing against his back again. "My allegiance is to this country, to Queen Leia – and this will never change."  
  
Palpatine's eyes grew colder than the iciest winter. "Then you will die for it."  
  
He pulled the sword from its sheath and crossed the last bit of distance between them, making his intentions clear.  
  
"Any last words?"  
  
"Only know that you cannot win, Palpatine. With my death, someone else will rise. And they will be able to finish what I couldn't."  
  
And with that, he took the final step back and fell out of the window, choosing to rather die by his own hand than by Palpatine's.  
  
For a moment then, while he fell to the ground, time seemed to stand still. Suddenly, he could sense everything, feel everything that was formerly around him now within him. The furious sky above him, the rain soaking through his shirt before he was even halfway down, Palpatine's anguished scream coming from the window.  
  
Bebe cawing above him, a call full of sadness towards his master. But the casket with Rey's letter laid still save in his claws.  
  
Rey.  
  
His sunshine, over and over again.  
  
There was so much of her in these final moments.  
  
His lips formed into a small at the thought of her.  
  
Another bolt of lightning made the sky explode.  
  
He hit the ground as soon as the thunder followed.


	2. But still, you will always return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Ben are both trapped, even if one of them doesn't realise it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Breaking my update schedule literally on the first real chapter! Ah, what a reliable human being I am xD  
> I can excuse it though by saying that the last "chapter" was only just the short prologue. So, just consider this a treat I guess, but from now on I swear I'll be more stable and update every Wednesday.
> 
> In terms of violence, there will be mentions of blood and a lot of swordfight in this chapter. And even though it isn't described in detail, people who have seen the 1991 Robin Hood movie, which this fic is heavily based on, know that there is a part in the first few minutes where a hand gets chopped off, so beware :)

The screams were all around her now, filling her ears and her thoughts until nothing else was left.

She didn’t know how long she had been here inside of this cell. She had tried to count the days, but her hands were tightly bound together, too tightly to etch something into the wall that would make her remember. Not that it mattered, anyway. Time didn’t seem to exist when it came to this place. Sitting in this jail, waiting for her execution, waiting for a chance to escape, just waiting for _something_ to happen – she could’ve been doing this for days, weeks, months…

Or even years.

Like always, a sense of deep longing filled her when she thought back to the times before all of this waiting. Back to her home. Back to racing around with her friends in the courtyard and playing hide and seek in the woods. Obi-Wan would scold her afterwards for her dirty clothes, but he has always been terrible at hiding his smile.

Did they even still remember her? Worry about her?

Or did they think her dead?

A door slammed shut outside, and she could hear the by now familiar steps coming up to her cell.

Unkar Plutt. Her guard in this hellhole.

He fidgeted with the keys for a few seconds before the cell door was pushed open and her suspicions confirmed themselves.

"Come on, you rat. Your meal won't wait for you."

He came to grab Rey and pushed her up way rougher than necessary. She carried away bruises from his treatment more often than not.

The first few times he did this, she had tried to resist him. She had bitten him, kicked him as much as her chains had allowed and even spat on him, but that had just resolved in him not giving her food anymore.

In the end, her honour was worth a lot to her, but so was her life. And if she wanted to get out of here, she needed all the strength she could get. So she let him bruise her as much as he wanted (and after her resistance the first few times, he had wanted that very much), her only consolation the thought of her sword piercing through him every time he did.

Right now, he quickly loosened her ankle chain so that she would be able to walk, but tugged her close immediately so that she wouldn't be able to try something.

Plutt was afraid of her.

He should be.

Because today, she had a plan. And right now, there was a splinter of wood resting in her hands, almost piercing through her skin. A splinter she had worked day and night to detach from the ceiling when nobody was looking. It wasn't necessarily a big one, but it was big enough to cause a distraction.

"Go faster!", he roared and pushed her out into the hallway, just because he could. "I don't have all day."

Me neither, Rey thought and had to suppress a smile.

Today, she would finally escape. Or die while trying.

While they were walking along the hallway, she could see a single ray of sun shining through one of the dusty windows, and it brought her every reason she needed to fight. God, she had been a war prisoner for so long now, she couldn't even remember all the colours of the sunrise anymore. Whatever happened today, at least the waiting would finally end.

Plutt shoved her into the small room where all the prisoners were gathered to eat once a day. It was more practical for the guards this way. No one would be able just to throw their bread away and try and starve themselves. Because however badly the prisoners were treated here, they didn't want them to die yet. They probably thought they could get good money for them, whether it be from slave traders or if Queen Leia decided to buy them free once the war ended.

A last forceful push, then she was pressed onto a tiny bench with a piece of too dry bread in her hands.

"Now eat."

Rey would have done so without the command. In this prison, you were always hungry.

The whispered chatter of the other prisoners besides her filled the room now, it was pretty cramped already, but no one dared to speak too loudly since the guards seemed to have taken a liking for punishing prisoners if they broke ranks. The screams could be heard day and night.

Rey looked around the room inconspicuously now while she was eating her bread, trying to come up with the best escape route.

The door on the far side of the room would lead directly outside, she knew that much, and once she was out, it would be easy to merge in with the crowd and hide somewhere until it was safer again. However, to even get there, she somehow would have to deal with five guards, each of them armed. Sure, she was a good fighter, but she didn't know if she would be able to take on all of them. At the same time, her body was still weakened from an endless time of imprisonment - never mind the metal bracelets that restricted her hand movement to a minimum or the fact that her only weapon was a tiny wooden splinter.

Suddenly, the door flew open, and Rey jolted.

Another guard was coming in from outside, carrying what looked like the limp body of a dark-skinned man.

"The other guys already tried to get him to talk, but nothing helped. We still don't know where the rest of his battalion hides out."

He threw him carelessly near Rey, who couldn't help but look at him more closely. The man was in horrible shape. There was blood all over him, dripping down in streaks from his back and colouring the white linen shirt in all colours but white. He had his back turned toward her so that she couldn't see his face. Still, she couldn't help but wonder...

The guards had said that he was part of a hostile army, so what if...?

With bated breath, she slowly, carefully turned the body around, and-

"Oh god", she whispered, a hand in front of her mouth as she finally recognised her childhood best friend.

"Finn?"

The body groaned at her words, and tears were forming in Rey's eyes. He was alive.

"Finn!"

Knowing that she couldn't show too much affection without the guards getting suspicious, she only squeezed his arm tightly and pulled him a bit closer to her.

"Rey?", he asked slowly, groggily, but Rey couldn't have been happier.

"It's me!"

A chuckle escaped his lips, but the cough that followed had Rey worried again immediately. "God, Rey. We all thought you were long dead. I can't believe you've been here this long..."

"How long was I gone for?"

"About nine months."

"Nine months..." She tested the words out on her tongue, and they filled her mouth with despair.

"I am happy that I got to see you one last time", Finn spoke again, his voice slowly growing more steady. He even attempted at sitting himself up. "This means that I won't die alone, at least."

She huffed out a laugh, but it didn't even seem convincing to herself. "No one will die here, Finn. We will escape. And we will do it today."

Her words made him perk up. "Do you have a plan?"

"Something like that." He groaned at her words. "It might not be perfect, but now that we are two people instead of one..."

"Then you need to use it, Rey, and get out." The tone in Finn's voice made her shut up instantly.

"And you will come with me, right?"

"No." He shook his head, and Rey's face fell. "I can't."

"What does that mean?" she asked carefully.

A sob escaped his mouth, and it took every bit of self-control she had not to hug him tightly. "Rey, they blinded me. I'm... I'm blind."

Only then did she really look at him for the first time, and she could see that he was right. His face was screwed up as it was, bruises everywhere, and his nose looked broken, but his eyes - they were swollen, and pus was oozing from beneath the eyelids, and all that Rey could do to help somehow was just to touch his cheek in a comforting manner.

He jerked away at the touch.

"Still, I will not leave you behind", she announced with a steady voice and was already back to scoping out the room again. They needed to leave. Finn needed medical attention sooner rather than later.

"Rey..."

"No!" If she was a little too loud now, then she didn't care about it. "Either both of us go, or both of us stay. And you wouldn't let me die here, would you?"

There were a few moments of silence until he finally sighed and gave in. "No, I wouldn't."

"Great, so it's settled. I'm taking you with me."

"Okay, so what-"

Their talk was cut short, however, when the guard that had brought Finn in earlier stepped closer to them.

"Hey, do you guys think we should just try our luck now? The boss might pay us a nice sum if we can tell him where the rest is hiding."

Approving cheers came from the other guards, and Rey could feel her blood begin to boil as the man leaned in so close to Finn that their faces were mere inches apart.

"I will never tell you anything", Finn said and spat in his face.

The man simply started to smile before he looked Finn up and down. "Maybe if you lose a few limbs, it'll make talking easier for you. Now, with which one should we start?"

"Start with his hand!" Plutt cheered, and the man nodded.

"You know what? That's a good idea. Up with you, now!"

"No!" Rey screamed before they could push Finn up any further, harming him even more. "Please, take me in his stead. He told me where the battalion is, so I have the same information as him. Just please, let him rest, he wouldn't survive it!", she pleaded, desperation clear in her eyes.

"Rey, no", Finn managed to get out, but she quickly spoke again so that he couldn't spoil anything.

"Cut off my hand instead of his."

The guards considered her for a moment, the smile on the man's face not faltering, but intensifying. Rey could feel the tension in this room.

"Alright."

Her features relaxed.

"We'll cut both of your hands off."

She could hear Finn whimper behind her. "Rey, why did you do that?"

But Rey didn't answer him as Plutt pushed her up and tore her to the middle of the room where a wooden block was already positioned. He pressed her onto her knees and held her hands tightly together while the other man exchanged her chains for a piece of rope that would help minimise the blood loss later.

Then, as inevitable as time itself, the other man got the axe.

"This is what you get for talking out of turn, woman", he said as Plutt pressed her hands firmly onto the block, and the man raised his axe far above his head.

Rey just closed her eyes, relaxed her hands and breathed. In her head, she counted down from three while she waited for the telltale sound of an axe slashing through the air.

Memories rushed through her head as she waited, every muscle in her body strained except for her hands—memories of her running through the forest, followed by Finn. Memories of Obi-Wan, her grandfather, making her sit down on a clearing in that same forest and telling her just to listen, to take it all in, to be one with the world around her.

As soon as she heard the axe, she suddenly used every bit of strength she had to pull her hands to the side so that Plutt's hands were now laying there instead of hers. Rey only opened her eyes again as she heard Plutt scream.

Then, everything happened so fast.

She cut the rope around her hands open on the axe that was now stuck in the block during the same move in which she rammed her wooden splinter into the man's throat, only to rip it out forcefully again to increase the pain.

The man screamed, but the four other guards were closing in on Rey, still shocked but gripping their weapons.

She, however, only smiled.

Because now her hands were free.

The first guard that dared to go near her received a kick into his groin before he could even raise his sword properly, and as the next one tried to attack her from behind, she ripped the sword out of his hand and stroke him down.

Someone tried to choke her then, she could feel strong arms enclosing her neck and her throat, and for a few moments, her attacker succeeded catching her off guard. Rey could feel the intense urge to breathe coming up inside her, and she knew that she wouldn't be strong enough anymore to get this mountain of a man off of her, and there was another one coming already, and all she could do was to gag loudly, begging for more air-

"Rey, if you're being choked, use a wall!"

It was Finn.

Her already foggy brain needed a second to understand what he was saying, but when it did, she slammed her whole body with as much strength as possible backwards so that her attacker's head smashed against the wall behind her.

He winced in pain, and she did it one more time, adrenaline washing away the exhaustion of the last nine months.

The second attacker was approaching fast with his sword already pointed at her, and she knew that she had mere seconds now.

With a final push against the wall, the grip around her throat finally loosened, and she whirled around to drag the man into the sword's path instead, no moment too early. It was too late for the other guard to prevent what was to come. His sword slid far into the stomach of the other one.

He looked deeply shocked, letting go of his sword almost instantly, but his remorse was cut short as Rey picked up the sword she had let go of earlier and knocked him out with its shaft over his head.

It finally grew quiet in the room then, and Rey looked around at the mess she had made. Five guards lay on the ground around her now, either dead or in various degrees of pain, and she could see Plutt trying to crawl deeper into the corner of the room, his whole front bloody. All the guards were there. All except for...

"Rey, are you still alive?" Finn asked tentatively, and she rushed to his side.

"Yes, but we need to go. Now. One of the guards is probably getting backup right now."

"Oh, believe me, I don't want to stay here any longer than I have to."

She helped him up, and he clutched to her shoulder as they began to walk.

"Please, free me too!", an unfamiliar voice shouted, and Rey turned back to the room again, seeing all the other prisoners staring at her pleadingly.

"Let me out!", another voice joined. "Please, be gracious. I have a family; I don't want to die here. Please, I beg of you, let me out."

And then, a whole chorus of voices began, all begging her to take them with her on her escape.

"Rey, we don't have time for this. We need to go", Finn said, but she shook her head.

"We will have a bigger chance if we're in a bigger group. Wait here."

And with that, she stalked over to Plutt quickly, who whimpered and tried to hide his face in the wall as he saw her.

"Where are the keys?"

"In my pocket. Just... please don't hurt me."

Much to his luck, Rey never wanted to hurt people if she didn’t have to. “I won’t.”

She took them and was about to hurry back when she spotted something else around his neck, barely sticking out under his shirt. Her medallion. The very same that had been taken from her when she had been captured. The very same that she had thought to be lost forever. Her parents had given it to her when she was just a baby, and it was all that she had left of them now. Quickly, not letting it out of her side again, she took it from Plutt as well and stuffed it into her pocket. Rey felt a step closer to home already. A quick smile appeared on her face before she went off to free the other prisoners.

When the guards finally came back, all hell had already broken loose for them.

~<\-->~

“Just… please don’t hurt me”, the villager pleaded, and Ben hesitated.

There was fear, so much fear shining in his eyes, and Ben couldn’t help the sick feeling building up in his stomach at the thought of having to end all of this.

“Come on, will you hurry up now?” Hux rolled his eyes next to him. “Palpatine wants this done quickly.”

“Please”, the man started again, raising his hands in defeat ever so slightly. Ben could see the tears in his eyes. “I’ve only… I’ve only tried to hide the wheat because we will starve without it! I gave you everything I could, I… I did it for my daughter. She’s just a baby.”

Ben didn’t know whether it was the single tear falling from the villager’s cheek or the way he closed his eyes, as if ready to accept his fate, but with a frustrated huff, he let down his sword.

When the man opened his eyes again, his expression was afraid, then unbelieving, and then thankful. “I can’t thank you enough, my prince. This means-“

His words came to a stop, his face into one of pain when Hux’s sword buried itself deep into his chest.

“Pathetic”, he murmured.

Ben closed his eyes, regret filling him, wishing he was somewhere else, anywhere else than here.

~<\--->~

Once they had made it out of the jail into the busy streets of the city, vanishing in the crowd proofed to be as easy as she had made it out to be. It hadn't taken them long until the screams of the guards faded, until they were in another, homelier part of the city, until they felt safe enough to steal new clothes, weapons, and a bit of food. They even found a medic who could take care of Finn.

These were still times of war, after all; a wound like his didn't raise too many suspicions.

And then, finally, as they hid out on top of the roofs of the city, Rey could see the sunrise again.

She thought she had never seen anything so beautiful and clutched her medallion, now hanging around her neck again, tightly in her hand. She swore to never forget its colours again.

Getting back to their home country, however, hadn't been as easy.

Even though Finn had told her that their kingdom, the kingdom of Alderaan, was preparing to make a peace treaty with the kingdom of Coruscant, both slowly growing tired of the war, the fights were still ongoing at the moment. It had taken Rey a long time and much stolen gold until some merchants finally agreed to take Finn and her with them on their ship.

But when they finally set foot onto the land that they were born in again, it was one of the best experiences of Rey's entire life.

"Finn, we're home!", she shouted as soon as the merchant's ship disappeared from the tiny beach they had left their two passengers in. "We're finally home!"

Even Finn, who was getting more and more serious these days, let out a small chuckle. "Yes, we are. We really are. I never thought I would breathe in this air again."

And then, as if both of them had just been waiting for it (and maybe they had), they simultaneously shrugged off their shoes to feel the sand underneath their toes, to convince themselves that this was actually real.

"Seven long years, whooo!" Finn shouted out triumphantly, and Rey laughed.

Finally, she saw her home again. The broad landscape stretching out in front of her, the tall trees swaying in the wind, and the small stone walls marking-off the farmland - she really thought this was a dream.

Tears were forming in her eyes, and not soon afterwards, a sob followed.

"Are you okay?" Finn asked her worried and patted her arm. He had yet to come to terms with his blindness, but Rey had a feeling that he would figure it out.

"Yes, of course", she finally answered. "I'm more than okay. I'm just... so happy. We're finally here."

"And we're not dead. That's also a bonus."

Rey gave him a slight nudge to the ribs and laughed. She could finally go home and see her grandfather again. Standing here with Finn on a beach they had frequented so often when they were younger, she could almost make herself believe that the whole war didn't even happen.

"Should we get going?"

Rey wiped away another tear from her cheek and laughed. "I can't wait."

The walk through the landscape was easy and familiar, a feeling Rey had ached for seemingly for forever. She remembered her surroundings well - the merchants had nicely let them get off at the closest spot to Kenobi Castle they could - and even though they would still spend the better half of the day walking, Rey didn't mind at all.

The banter with Finn was also flowing easily, both still ecstatic from finally being back. Sometimes she wondered if he was sad at all. After all, he had lost his family and home only shortly to illness before both Rey and himself had joined the war - it had been his motivation for going. But if he was, then he wasn't showing it.

Around late afternoon, they decided to take a quick rest in an apple orchard. They only had three more miles to walk now, and Rey was getting more and more impatient. But even if this very land they stood on now was already owned by the Kenobi family, Finn had needed a break from stumbling about and had made her lie down and eat an apple. To be fair, with the soft clouds overhead and the sun shining down, she was almost thankful for it.

It was only when she saw a young girl screaming and running on a field slightly below them that Rey perked up.

"What was that?" Finn immediately tensed beside her.

"A girl is running down there..." Rey squinted her eyes, trying to figure out what was going on.

"She sounded scared."

"Oh God." Her hand moved to cover her mouth in shock as she finally saw the group of men on horses turn around the corner, following and shouting after the girl loudly. "Soldiers are chasing her. But why? She can't be more than twelve years old from the looks of it."

"Are you going to see what's up?"

Rey had already stood up before Finn had started talking, the apple in her hand long forgotten. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

"I hate when you say that."

"Oh, come on, Finn", she said distractedly. "Those are my lands. I have a right to be here, and I have my bow on top."

Before Finn could do much more than to utter a sigh, Rey was already off, running fast through the field towards the girl. The riders had nearly caught up with her now, laughing at her mockingly as she tried to move even quicker.

"Stupid girl!" One of them shouted now, and Rey was close enough to hear it. "You can't outrun a damned horse, but just keep on running, and we'll hunt you down!"

The others cheered him on, and Rey could already feel the by now familiar burning in her blood as her head filled with anger. However, she was relieved when she saw the little girl reach a tree, turn around to her persecutors, stick her tongue out and quickly climb up the tree as if it was nothing.

The soldiers looked perfectly dumbfounded when they reached the tree in question, the mocking expression finally gone from their faces.

Rey arrived at the scene around the same time as they did, but on instinct, she first hid behind a bush to calm down her breathing and to see how this scene was going to play out.

"What should we do now, my Lord?", one of the soldiers said and turned to the rider in the middle of the formation, a pale man with bright, red hair and an angry scowl.

"We...", he started, obviously stumbling for words, "We'll just... we'll cut her down! Yes, we'll bring the whole damn tree down!"

"With those thin arms of yours?" The girl shouted from the top of the tree, and Rey nearly revealed her location by laughing out loud.

The face of the leader automatically reddened from anger. He looked positively like he was about to explode. "Get this stupid brat", he said, very calmly, "OUT OF THE TREE!!", he shouted, not so calmly.

His men dismounted their horses. "With the axes, Lord Hux?"

Lord Hux. Rey searched her memories, but she didn't think she had ever heard that name during her childhood here.

"Of course with the axes, you utter idiot, with what else?!"

Just as the seemingly very cowed guards wanted to grab their weapons, however, Rey stepped out from the bushes, very successfully attracting all of their attention towards her.

"Hold on! I'm curious, what creature is so fearsome that five men had to chase it into a tree?"

Her words made Lord Hux's nose scrunch up in an instant. "This is not your affair, woman. I suggest you move on quickly."

Rey simply laughed and looked up into the tree. The little girl was staring at her incredulously, and if her sight didn't fail her, there was even a shimmer of hope in her eyes.

"Oh look, it's a little girl! Say, how old are you?"

"Eleven", a tiny voice answered and Rey felt her heart clench.

Only eleven.

Despite her feelings, she kept her expression smooth as she turned back to Hux. "This eleven-year-old girl surely must have committed the most gruesome crime in the history of Alderaan for her to be chased like this. What has she done?"

"She killed one of the royal deer", a soldier who didn't catch Hux's meaningful glance in time answered.

"We were starving, my family needed the meat!", the little girl shouted again and Rey had to fight with herself to not grab her bow right then and there.

"So you are trying to kill a little, eleven-year-old girl because she wanted to save her family from starvation?"

Even though the other soldiers cast their heads slightly downwards, the look in Hux's eyes didn't soften.

"Whoever poaches in the royal woods faces a death penalty. It is the law."

Those words hit Rey like a fist into her stomach. How could this be? She may not know Queen Leia or King Han personally, but she had fought as part of their army under their guidance now for seven years, and all she ever heard of them were tales of intelligence, warmth, fairness and gentleness. How could such a law be enforced in their name now?

"I advise you to just move on as long as you still can, and get back to whatever village you're coming from before you share the same fate as this criminal."

"Well, you see, there's only one problem."

"Which would be?" Hux looked more annoyed now than anything else, and Rey forced herself to smile again.

"I own this land, which means that I own this very tree, too, and whatever is inside of it."

"Might I know your name then before I kill you?"

At this, Rey lifted her chin a bit higher, even though her every muscle was already ready to jump into action. "Rey. Rey Kenobi, granddaughter of Lord Obi-Wan Kenobi."

At this, Hux only laughed before he shared a glance with his men who erupted in laughter only seconds later. Rey felt like she was missing out on the joke.

"Lady Rey Kenobi, I see. So you didn't die in the war like we all assumed. Welcome home, then." He turned to his knights, his stare growing incredibly vicious again. "And now, kill her."

Rey steadied her stance and grasped fast for the bow on her back before pulling out an arrow. The four men were charging at her now, and she knew that it was dangerous, but after all this time, she couldn't help but think that she had missed fighting with her bow as she fired off her first shot.

Two men were already laying on the ground with arrows in their legs before the two others even reached her. Then, as they finally did, she dodged the first round of blows skillfully before taking an arrow and stabbing it right into the hand of the first one, who let go of his sword, which she then used to disarm the next one. He already ran away before she even lifted the blade to his throat threateningly.

Hux screamed out in anguish as he pulled out his own sword now to fight her himself. And frankly, he was a harder opponent to fight. His first few swings were full of burning anger and matched Rey's in passion, but because of all the time spent fighting in the war, Rey had a way better condition than him. It didn't take long until his hits were carried out softer and his defensive stance got sloppier.

After a few more seconds, all Rey needed to do was to try to attack him from the side, which broke up his stance even more, and then land a hard kick against his knee, and already he was laying before her in the grass field. Just for safety, she kicked his sword far away.

His eyes looked like the flaming pits of hell as she lifted her sword onto his throat, letting it rest just above his skin, and smiled. "Might I know the name of your superior before I kill you?", she repeated his words back at him.

"Palpatine", Hux spat out.

"Palpatine? The royal advisor?"

"He is reigning over these lands while the Queen is gone, and if you ask me, it should stay that way."

Rey added more pressure to her blade, and she could see Hux's resistance falter after only a moment. "That is traitorous talk you speak of there. Tell me, is Palpatine the one who dictated a death penalty even for children?"

"Yes, and finally, these little creatures-" More pressure. "Kids", he got out through gritted teeth, "can learn the consequences of their actions."

Rey shook her head unbelievingly. She was relieved that Queen Leia didn't seem to be directly involved in this, but why would her royal advisor do that? She had never been too acquainted with the other noble families as Obi-Wan had never been one to join their company, so she had never met the man himself, but weren't royal advisors supposed to carry out the will of their Queen or King?

"Now kill me already, but make it swift", Hux added and brought Rey back into the moment.

And for a moment, she was almost about to. But then, like always, she considered the weight of her sword in her hands, how she could already see a thin line of blood tracing on his skin, how his underlying fear reflected back at her. In one move, she lifted the sword off of him. He was no danger anymore.

"I've seen enough blood spilt to last two lifetimes. Now, leave this place! And tell your master to not interfere with matters on the Kenobi land anymore!"

Hux had started to get up and run away as fast as he could, but as he heard her last words, he turned around again with a smile.

"Those lands don't belong to you anymore. You might be back, Lady Rey, but there isn't anything here anymore to come back to."

Rey was too stunned by his words to do anything but stare as he ran off further into the distance, almost as if chased by hellhounds.

"There isn't anything here anymore...?", she mumbled quietly to herself, an unwell feeling spreading in her stomach, and she was so lost in thought trying to figure out the meaning of his words that she nearly didn't hear the little girl landing on the ground beside her.

"Thank you, milady", she said breathlessly and quickly made a curtsy.

Rey smiled at her. It was only now that she realised how dirty and starved she looked, her clothes nearly fading into non-existence. She was able to count her ribs underneath it. Whatever has become of this country, it wasn't anything good.

"No need to thank me, it was my pleasure", she finally let out when she realised how rudely she had been staring. "Tell me, did you actually manage to kill a deer? They can be quite fast sometimes."

The girl nodded, at first eagerly with a smile on her face, but then a worried expression washed over her. "Yes, I did. And I will take whatever punishment you seem suitable."

For only trying to survive? Rey's heart ached again.

"Don't worry, there will be no punishment. Quite the contrary, I admire you." At that, the little girl's smile widened. "You were very brave just now, and you certainly have a great future as a fighter in front of you, if that is what you want. Now, how is your family?"

She shrugged with her shoulders. "It is hard to come by since Palpatine reigns, mom always says. She's always worried about paying the taxes, and afterwards, there's nothing left for food."

Rey frowned. "Is that the case for everyone?"

She nodded, and as if on cue, her stomach started growling. Rey gave her a smile that she hoped was comforting. During the nine months of imprisonment, she had learned how hunger felt and how much desperation there was connected to it. For this little girl to be feeling the same way - it just wasn't right.

"Tell you what - up there, there's a big apple orchard belonging to my family. If you ever feel like eating one, you're invited to do so. As is your family and everyone else who hungers. Also, take this." Rey had to fidget a little bit with her weapon-belt before she managed to pull out a small, but a sharp and artfully decorated dagger.

The girl looked at it with an awe-struck impression.

"Use this to defend yourself in case those men ever try to hunt you down again. Or you can sell it, it will score a good price, I think."

"Are you sure-"

Rey closed the girl's fingers around the dagger. "It's yours now. Get home safely."

She flashed her another full-toothed grin before she ran off into the direction of the orchard, but Rey could not quite let go of the words she had just heard from the girl.

Taxes so high that the townfolks had to starve? Rey knew that a war as long as this one was expensive, but the war had been ongoing long before Rey even joined it and back then, she had never heard of any tale like this. So what was this Lord Palpatine doing?

And the things Hux had mentioned...

"Wait!" she shouted after the little girl. "Do you have news on Lord Obi-Wan Kenobi or Kenobi castle? Has there been any talk between the people?"

The girl looked uncomfortable, stepping from one foot to the other. "The castle burnt down two fortnights ago, milady. They say that Lord Palpatine has found evidence of Lord Kenobi's involvement with treason."

"Treason?" Rey felt as if all the air had been sucked from her lungs. Suddenly, she couldn't breathe anymore.

"No one left the castle alive. I'm sorry, milady, that is all I know." Then, she ran away.

"No..." Rey whispered, intently staring down at the patch of grass beneath her. "It can't be. It can't be true."

Her legs were already moving before her brain had even processed her actions. Above her, the clouds were flying across the sky, screaming at her to run faster, faster, and even faster. Beneath her, the ground was getting harder to run on as her legs started to shake, but she angrily forced her legs to carry on still faster. Whatever it took, she wouldn't stop. Couldn't stop.

"Finn!", she screamed as soon as he was in sight.

“Rey! Thank god, I thought something might have happened-“

"We have to go home. Now!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it!!  
> It was a blast to work a bit with the original script here during the Hux-Rey part!  
> In the next chapter, we will definitely have a more thorough look on what Ben has been up to, and I hope you're as stoked as me :D
> 
> Comments and kudos are always appreciated, and if you want to come and say hi, you can do so on my twitter @moon2pluto


	3. Blinded for so long

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I'm finally back with Chapter Two!! I'm so sorry for the slight delay, but my courses started again this week and are currently kicking my butt.  
> Anyways, I hope you'll enjoy this one, as promised we'll have more time with Ben this time :D
> 
> TW: There is not really violence in this chapter, but someone is hanging in a gibbet, and even though that is not described in detail, stay stafe!

He sat alone inside of his stone castle. It was a little bit too cold, as so often these days. Sometimes, when he lay in bed at night, he thought he might actually freeze. He could light a fire then, sure, but no fire or layer of clothing could protect him from the sinking feeling that came with the frost - which was even worse than the coldness itself.

As of late, those nights seemed to grow more and more frequent; desperation slowly sneaking its way into his heart. 

"Kylo! Come and take a look at this!" Palpatine's voice called for him now, and Ben, still not used to this name despite having it for years, needed a few seconds to register it.

He was just so tired. His muscles still ached from the training they did this morning.

He couldn't remember the last time he had felt warm.

However, he also knew that there was nothing good coming from ignoring his parents' royal advisor, so he stood up from where he had been reading by the fire and walked into the large throne room. Like always, he couldn't stop his eyes from wandering, couldn't stop his mind from making up pictures long forgotten.

Once, this room had been so full of glory. It had been the castle's heart and his parents' whole pride. With laughter echoing from the walls drinks had been passed, politics had been made, and injustice had been rightened. Ben could still remember how much awe he felt as a child whenever he went in here, this big and important room, with the diamond chandelier hanging above it all and the exquisite red rug giving everything an air of significance.

However, those days have passed, he reminded himself again.

His parents had been gone for a long time now to fight in the war. But to Ben, they had been long gone even before that.

Now the throne room looked more like a shadow of itself; the laughter had vanished, and the red rug was slowly swallowed by dust. Even the chandelier didn't seem to sparkle as brightly as it once had.

"Isn't this peculiar?" Palpatine asked and didn't even seem to properly take notice of Ben's entrance.

It was only then that he realized what the advisor was even doing there. Ben frowned as he took in the scene. In front of Palpatine stood a large portrait leaned against the wall, one he knew for sure not to be one of their own. Not only that, but the painting seemed to have burned edges as well.

"Who is this?" Ben asked confusedly, not sure why Palpatine would find such an interest in a portrait of a random girl.

That was another thing: Ben couldn't even recognize the girl in the painting. Hazel eyes; a bright smile that was most untypical for portraits like this one; more the clothes of a hunter than those of a lady on her back. She still looked quite young in the painting, and Ben would have guessed her to be around eighteen, maybe.

Palpatine took a quick look at him as Ben stepped nearer. "The painting must be of Lady Rey Kenobi. I saved it from the fire when the old Lord Obi-Wan rather burned down the castle and joined his devil than to be imprisoned."

Ben nodded in understanding, but the painting, the way Lady Rey's gaze seemed to emit waves of warmth - something about it didn't quite let go of him.

"Lady Rey Kenobi..."

But even with the name, no memories were coming up. Even though it felt as if there should be something; something to explain how drawn he was towards a mere image. 

"Do you know her?" Palpatine asked quickly, hopefully, and Ben came back to reality and shook his head.

It was probably just her smile that surprised him. His parents had always been eager to introduce Ben to every family of higher standing in their country since he was supposed to reign over them one day too, so it would only be logical to assume that he had met her and just forgot about her.

"No, I don't think so. We may have met as children at a ball, but I'm not sure."

Still, he would never admit this aloud, but - how would he have ever been able to forget such a smile?

"She's quite beautiful, isn't she?" Palpatine said, and Ben could feel his eyes on him.

"Lovely", he agreed and tried not to blush. Or emit any form of human emotion other than indifference.

Ben liked to be indifferent. It was safe, it kept him shielded from everything around him. And it kept Palpatine happy, the man who had been watching over him since his parents left. Maybe even since long before that. Perhaps since his parents had started to be too busy with work to notice him.

As Ben dared to look at him, however, his eyes were fixed intently on the painting again.

"Do her features appear somehow familiar to you?" Palpatine's voice seemed to have an edge to it, but Ben couldn't tell where it came from.

He had to be careful now. 

"I don't think I-"

A loud knock at the door interrupted the both of them, making them turn around to see a servant leaning in from the hallway.

"My master, Lord Hux is asking to speak to you."

Palpatine's eyes grew colder. Hux hadn't been scheduled to come back from his patrol until nightfall. It was still an hour before dusk now, and Ben knew how Palpatine could get when something didn't fall into place right.

Hux seemed to know that too, judging by the way his shoulders slouched instantly as he stepped into the room. He tried lifting his gaze but failed.

"Master, I-"

"What happened to you?"

Ben was still taken aback by the painting, so it took him a few moments to realize what Palpatine had been playing at.

Hux was dirty.

As in, completely dishevelled. His uniform had been slit open at some parts, and there was blood trickling down from his elbow. His face looked bruised, his always so neatly combed hair now unrecognizable.

If Ben hadn't wanted to be so indifferent, he maybe would have laughed. It served him right, after all.

"We were following this little thief who murdered the deer in your forest yesterday when suddenly this... woman came along. She challenged us and, as I must say in the deepest shame, she won."

Ben wasn't alone to raise an eyebrow at this.

"Defeated by a woman?" Palpatine asked. "Your men surely must have been drunk." 

"No, my Liege, I quite assure you they weren't when she viciously attacked us. They were, however, undeniable cowards when they ran away as soon as she only lifted her bow. If not for this... dishonourable behaviour, we would have caught her in an instance, of course."

This was getting more and more interesting, Ben thought.

"But, my dear Hux - I take it that you fought with her as well?" Palpatine asked with a chilling smile, and Hux's face became even whiter.

"N-no... I mean, yes, Sir, I did."

"And she still won?"

Hux didn't dare to meet his lord's eyes. "She did."

Ben wondered at this. Hux surely wasn't the best fighter this kingdom had ever seen, and he definitely couldn't measure up to himself, but still, he wasn't bad. Better than most, actually. Whoever this woman was, she must have a talent for fighting. 

"But only thanks to measly little tricks!" Hux continued to fend for himself as Palpatine's eyes darkened. "I would have beaten her if not... if not for the sun in my eyes!"

Palpatine only scoffed. "There are no tricks in a fight, Armitage." He got closer to him now, and Ben could almost see Hux shiver. Palpatine was towering over him. A friendly smile paired with the ruthless eyes he knew oh so well. "There's only winning and losing. And you", his smile widened; Hux's eyes closed in fear, "lost."

Then, as fast as he had approached Hux before, he darted away again and walked around the room, seemingly deep in thought. "One of my closest confidantes, and he lost against a woman... No, we can't have that here. Kylo, from tomorrow on, you will supervise his training. And don't go too soft on him, I want to see improvements fast."

Ben nearly thought that the conversation might be over as surprisingly, Hux spoke up again.

"My liege?"

"What is it?"

"There was also a message she sent with me. It was the reason she kept me alive."

Ben perked up. She had managed to get Hux at knifepoint?

"Why didn't you tell me sooner? But of course, let's hear what she has to say", Palpatine humoured and laughed.

Ben could see how Hux had to take a deep breath before speaking again. "She told me that we should stay out of her land if we don't want any trouble."

"And why would she do that?" It was the first time Ben had spoken since Hux came in, and all three of them seemed to be equally surprised at the deep sound of his voice.

"Because of who she is", Hux answered nonetheless, and there was a sneer hidden deeply in his throat. "Lady Rey Kenobi."

Palpatine and Ben shared a look before both of their eyes darted to the painting on the opposite side of the room, sitting there as innocently as ever.

"Speak of the devil", Palpatine huffed. "Rey, Rey, Rey. Fighting seven years in a non-sense war, only to come home to nothing but a pile of dust."

Ben observed the picture again with heightened attention this time. Rey Kenobi. He could almost imagine the sound of her name on his tongue. She looked so innocent here. Just a young girl smiling brightly into the world, expecting it to be kind to her, eyes full of mischief. And still, Palpatine said that she fought in the war. For seven years. Ben almost couldn't believe it. 

He didn't know why, but a small part of him hoped that it didn't extinguish her smile. He had never seen anything quite as bright.

"Well, what are you going to do about it?" Hux's shriek brought his attention back to him and Palpatine again. Ben shook his head. "I've lost some of my best men, and she humiliated me, surely we must go after-"

"She humiliated you because you let her, Armitage. If you'd be as good as you think of yourself, you would have just killed her on the spot." Hux sneered at that but was wise enough to remain silent as Palpatine took up his pacing again. "No, I think that this will just play itself out this time. After all, she may find the fire still burning when she comes home!"

He laughed loudly at that and Ben winced. The whole room, once so full with people and dancing, sounded colder than ever as it reflected back his laugh too sharply. Every other part of the castle was quiet. Hux was shivering from fear and anger.

Ben tried to keep neutral.

"But she-" He tried to start again, but Palpatine quickly cut him off.

"Quiet now. You will do as I say." The grin returned to his face. A menacing, hard grin. A grin that has haunted Ben throughout his entire life, one that still managed to make him tremble as a grown man. "It's simple, really. I may not know much about the old Obi-Wan, but if I do know one thing, then that is that he loved his granddaughter. And the feeling seemed to be mutual. If she's anything like I expect her to be, then she'll break under the loss just as a fresh twig snaps underneath a boot on a crisp autumn morning. She won't be any trouble anymore."

And at that moment, Ben almost felt sorry for her. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to fight in a war for so long, to experience death and grieving every day to keep your home safe, just to return and find everything gone. It truly must be a loss that can break your heart.  
But with that thought, a slight tone of envy also joined in, even though he knew it wasn't right. Still, at least she had someone to mourn for. A family that loved her.

Ben had never been close to his parents. Maybe in days that he didn't remember, but those were long gone. The war had started when he was only fourteen, and it ripped his parents away from him. He still remembered when they left him. How he had argued with them for no end. How he had begged them to take him with them, not caring about how dangerous it would be as long as they would be together.

They hadn't felt the same.

Hux left the room with another curd nod, and Palpatine turned back to Ben, eyes casting over the painting again. By now, it was almost as if Rey's presence was looming in this room; as if her eyes were slowly becoming more and more alive.

"It's really curious, isn't it?" Palpatine started, and Ben couldn't follow. "About how the people closest to us, the people we think we love can hurt us so badly, that they can cause us to fall. The same will happen with Kenobi." He strutted over to him, his threatening smile turning into a warm, loving one, and Ben felt relief. He felt like he could almost trust him now, the man that had always looked out for him.

"The weaker your loved ones are, the weaker you are. Really, you should feel grateful for not having that same bond with your parents. They abandoned you, and it made you stronger." Ben stiffened and struggled to keep an unbothered expression. Because that was precisely what it felt like to him.

They had abandoned him.

They left him with no one else but his royal advisor, expecting him to take care of the country, while they were off to fight in a war without a real cause that even Palpatine had said so many times didn't benefit anyone. Almost as if they needed an escape from him.

He had seen them twice in thirteen years. They had never taken him back with them, despite him being twenty-seven now.

His jaw clenched.

No, as painful as the memory was, it shouldn't matter to him anymore. It didn't. It had been unexpected that the painting of Lady Rey would bring up so many feelings, but it was irrelevant. He wouldn't let it drag him down, and he couldn't let it drag him down. They didn't want him; it had made him stronger.

"No, you only trust in me, because I will not ever let you look weak when you finally start to lead your people out of these times of war. Your parents destroyed this land, you will build it up again, and restore it to its former glory. Because you are strong and unyielding."

He was strong. He felt strong. 

This was right.

Palpatine patted his shoulder proudly before turning to throw a last glance at the painting.

"It's a shame, really, how such a pretty thing can break so easily."

Still, Rey's bright smile beamed at him, and it almost made his resolve crumble. 

"She didn't break yet. We should continue to keep an eye out for her, she might try to riot when she finds out what happened", was all he could answer. 

Because for whatever reason, he hoped she would riot. Hoped she wouldn't break.

"Exactly the kind of foreseeing I expect from a future king", Palpatine said, and Ben had a hard time ripping his gaze from her hopeful face.

Because for whatever reason, next to pity and jealousy, indifference was something he could not feel towards her, however hard he tried.

~<\-->~

"You have to go slower!"

Rey almost couldn't feel her feet rushing along the ground; she was running so fast, tugging Finn behind her. At this point, both of them must have stumbled a countless number of times, but Rey hadn't taken much notice. To her, only the next step mattered. The next step that would bring her closer to home. Closer to her grandfather.

Rey didn't let any other thought manifest inside of her head.

It couldn't be true, and she wouldn't think about it.

Finn eventually had insisted that she told him what she knew, and that had already been bad enough.

Nightfall had already come and wrapped the landscape in mist and darkness as Rey could finally see familiar territory surrounding her. There was that tree Finn and herself used to play in as children; that clearing where they would stage their feasts; this bush that they hid their treasures in.

And she ran past it all, as fast as she could, trying to keep her fears from catching up with her. Everything seemed so familiar that she could almost still hear children's laughter in the air. Maybe that was the worst part of it.

"Rey, slow down!" Finn screamed behind her, clearly struggling to keep up with her, but his voice was drowned out by the hammering of her own heart yet again.

Only a few more seconds now. A few more seconds before she would see her castle again, with the flags flying high above the turrets. Before she would be welcomed into the warmth of a home she had longed for since she had left seven years ago. Before she would see her grandfather again. Before she could flee into his arms.

A few more seconds...

And then, Rey finally reached the edge of the forest and had a clear view of the castle.

Her eyes widened as they settled onto the spot where her home had once been.

Time stood still.

Thoughts were screaming in her head, too loud for Rey to express, yet the only sound was made by Finn shuffling the leaves on the ground as he came to an abrupt stop.

There was nothing.

Only ruins.

"No. No, it can't be", Rey whispered quietly before her feet started moving again, almost forgetting the force with which she yanked Finn behind her.

"Rey, stop, please, what's going on-"

Without another word, she let go of him and ran into the ruins of her home.

"GRANDFATHER!", she screamed for him, not ready yet to let the tears well in her eyes, to let her horrors take hold of her.

"WHERE ARE YOU?"

Only silence followed, and Rey turned around more and more franticly to try to spot him somewhere.

"Please answer", she whispered.

He had to be here. He simply had to be. He had to have escaped somehow and hid somewhere where Palpatine's men couldn't have found him. He must have found a way out of this. He always did.

Memories surrounded her as the first sobs escaped her mouth in desperation. Obi-Wan laughing at her as she tried on dresses and hated it. Obi-Wan holding her hands steady as she released her first arrow. Obi-Wan telling her a story every night while tugging her into bed, however old she grew, and telling her how much he loved her.

He was everywhere now, his face plastered in her head until she could see nothing else anymore.

Which was when she finally spotted him.

"NO!!!" she screamed loud and shrill and full of hopelessness.

Then, finally, her feet stopped carrying her, every bit of strength leaving her body.

She broke down and fell onto her knees.

For above her in a gibbet, she saw her grandfather at last.

"REY!" Finn's voice called for her from not too far away, but she couldn't answer. 

Her mind was numb. She couldn't have torn her gaze from the body above her even if she had enough will to try.

"Rey."

She could feel two strong arms engulf her as Finn found her, and as if she was finally breathing after being underwater for too long, a sob escaped her. And then another.

Rey couldn't have said how long it took for the sounds to come back. How long it took before she noticed that it had started to rain and that she was shivering. She didn't even know when the cries had taken over her body, loud and unabashed, or when she had started to talk, voice nearly unintelligible from all the sobs.

Finn was here, however, rubbing her arms, trying to ground her and keep her warm. And after some time, she could make out his words again.

"I've got you, you're safe. It's okay."

Nothing could be further from the truth.

"Nothing's okay, how can you even say that?", she cried as she buried herself deeper into Finn's arms. At some point, he must have turned her head so that she wasn't facing the gibbet anymore, but just the grey fabric of his shirt.

"We'll be okay, we'll be okay..."

"He's... dead. He's really dead. How can he be dead?"

He was so alive when she left. 

She left... Rey remembered, slowly, her mind still coated in the same fog that was surrounding them. She left for a war she had wanted to prove herself in so badly. She had left for something that had brought her nothing but the destruction he had warned her of. And now, he was dead.

She had left, and he had died.

"It's all my fault", Rey gagged out, and at this moment, she truly believed it.

"It's not", Finn immediately disagreed, but Rey was already trapped in her thoughts.

"If I hadn't run off to play soldier, I could have protected him."

She lifted a hand to her forehead as the full weight of the words hit her. Sobs began to rock her body again, and honestly, she wished they would break her ribs so that she could die here with him.

"If you would have been there that night, both of you would have died."

Rey shook her head wildly. 

Why had she ever left Obi-Wan alone?

"Maybe it would have been better like this." Tears were streaming down her face in a steady flow now, impossible to distinguish from the rain.

"Rey, please don't say that. You know that he wouldn't want that. He wanted you to live, to be happy, never to die for a pointless quest."

Finn's voice sounded so... soothing, understanding, and full of love for her. And right now, she hated it. Hated how well he knew how to ground her.

"I said such hurtful things to him before I ran away. I never got the chance to tell him that I loved him", was the only thing she could choke out before tears took over her vision again.

Finn patted her arm repeatedly, making sure she wouldn't drift off anymore. "I think he knew. I think he loved you very much too."

They stayed like this for a while then. Not talking, just laying there, in the cold and in the rain.

Rey couldn't move, and Finn wouldn't move without Rey, so they stayed.

Funnily enough, Rey found more comfort in the silence than in words.

Eventually, she must have drifted off into a dreamless slumber, that kind that really felt no different from reality, maybe even worse.

In her dreams, she spiralled.

Memories of her grandfather replayed themselves again and again in her head, ranging from happy to angry to sad. Still, all of them overshadowed by one universal fact: She had lost him.

The only family she could remember, and she had lost him.

Rey grabbed the medallion around her neck ever so tightly. They were all within now.

Through half-closed eyes, she could see the night sky changing colours as perspiration covered her entire forehead, making it hard to grasp any clear thought.

However, the prominent sound of wings managed to catch at least Finn's attention after a while, and he looked up only to see what seemed like the silhouette of a bird against the dawning sky.

"What's that?" He asked and nudged Rey. It took her a few moments to focus her bleary eyes enough to recognize the animal, but once she did, her mouth fell open in surprise.

"Bebe?"

"Obi-Wan's falcon?" Finn asked, and Rey could just nod, too taken aback for anything else.

But then again, the white mark on his forehead was unmistakable, and it stood out even more as he flew closer and closer, until he finally landed by her side. 

"Bebe", Rey sobbed and laughed, maybe because of how obscure all of this was. "It really is you."

The bird chirped as an answer and bumped his head against her hand, which she then used to pet him carefully. Bebe had been a part of her life since she had been sixteen, which was when Obi-Wan had found the young fledgeling injured on the castle grounds. After waiting to no avail for his mother, he had picked him up himself and took care of him.

After his wounds had healed, however, he still didn't want to leave her grandfather's side, so they had kept him.

Rey had been the one to come up with this ridiculous name, and Obi-Wan had found it endearing enough to use it.

So many memories of him rushed into her mind again now as she looked at the falcon. It almost made her head hurt.

Only then did she notice the small cylinder that the bird had been carrying in its claws.

"What is it?" Finn asked as he heard her draw in a sharp breath.

"There's a letter Bebe has been carrying."

"A letter?"

Rey's heart pounded fast as she opened the leather casket and reached for the yellowed paper within. Could this be...?

Bebe chirped loudly beside her and jumped onto her shoulder, almost as if he wanted to see what was inside just as badly as she did.

And truly, as Rey unfolded the pages, it was her grandfather's familiar messy penmanship that welcomed her.

A cold breeze brushed over her as tears filled her eyes again, making it hard for her to decipher the letters at first.

Finn seemed to be growing impatient next to her. "What does it say?"

A deep breath, then another, and at some point, she finally found the courage she needed to read the last words her grandfather would ever dedicate to her out loud.

"My dear Rey,

if you read these words, then that means that I'll be dead already, and I'm sorry for that. Everything was going so fast, and I have no regrets other than not being able to hold you close once more. But my time is running low, and there are so many things that you still need to know, so I'll have to keep it short.  
You are probably asking yourself who killed me. It was Lord Palpatine. He'll try to tell you that I was either a satanist or a traitor, but be assured, I am neither. He is the traitor. He has been a royal advisor for a long time now, and I think that he has been planning this for just as long. Rey, he wants to have the Queen and King killed so he can have the power over this country, and he will stop at nothing to get it.   
He is oppressing the land and getting rid of all the people that are in his way. Sadly, I am one of these people, and as soon as you are going to come back, you'll be too.   
Even the Crown Prince Kylo Ren, as he now calls himself, is blinded by Palpatine's lies already. You can trust no one except for yourself.  
There is so much I still have to tell you, but my time will be up soon. I'm sending Bebe to find you with this.   
You know that I would love to tell you to just run away and leave everything behind because it will be dangerous, but I know you well enough to understand that you wouldn't do that anyway. So, do what I know you can do best and save this kingdom. Go and give them hell.

I love you so much, my little one. I'll always be with you until we meet again."

Rey had to stop at this line for a few seconds, for the tears stuck in her throat were close to choking her, her voice unsteady.

"In love, forever and always your grandfather,

Obi-Wan Kenobi." 

And just like that, she broke down again. But this time, it felt like the good kind of breaking down. Like the kind where you cry your heart out for a while and then be able to fight on. Bebe nudged his head against her cheek, and a wet laugh stole itself into Rey's sobs.

"He really loved you", Finn said and patted her back sympathetically. 

"I know", Rey laughed and rubbed her eyes, even if it was to no avail. "I love him, too."

Her expression, however, changed, as she remembered all the other information his letter had given her. He had been killed, murdered in cold blood, by Palpatine.

"This is big." Finn seemed to have the same string of thoughts.

Palpatine had taken him from her. And even more than that, now he was trying to take her country too, the same country she had fought for in a war seven years long.

"I know."

"Shouldn't we tell anyone? Write a letter to Queen Leia or something like that?"

Rey shook her head decisively after a few seconds, regarding Obi-Wan's words. "No, we can't. She's too far away, and if she let her whole country in Palpatine's hands, she must trust him more than anyone. It could backfire too easily." 

Finn sighed. "You sound like you already have a plan in mind, and I'm not sure whether I like that."

Rey's jaw hardened, the fire of anger in her heart slowly replacing her tears. "Just exactly what Obi-Wan told me to do. I'm going to give them hell, and I'm going to make sure that Palpatine will regret everything he has ever done in his life."

Rey's voice was dripping with determination at the end, and she knew that those weren't just empty words. This was an oath she took under the clear morning sky, a bloody sunrise hidden behind clouds. 

Because Palpatine had succeeded in taking her grandfather, her home, and by now probably even her identity, but by god, he would not take her country as well.

Even if she had to give her life for it, she would make sure that Palpatine would go down with her.

"Rey, there seems to be so much more behind this, and it is literally me, a blind man, and you against who knows how many people."

A mischievous smile stole itself onto her lips as the thoughts in her head were circling faster and faster.

"Horses", she just said and stood up from the ground, cold rage and determination giving her the energy she needed.

Finn only frowned at that. "What?"

"We'll need horses." She nodded along as her plan manifested itself more and more. "We can't stay here, that will make it too easy for them to find us."

"Rey, slow down--"

He had no chance to protest any further as Rey already grabbed his hand to pull him up with her.

"And lucky for us, I know just the right place to get them." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it, if you did, feel free to leave a comment or a kudo, I'm happy for every one I get :D  
> Also, if you want to talk to me, please use my twitter @moon2pluto!
> 
> In the next chapter, we'll finally have a Reylo interaction I know you all are waiting for (I'm sorry for the blue balls), and I hope to see you then again :)

**Author's Note:**

> I know, it's a sad start, but I swear that it will get better.  
> Next week (I plan to update weekly) we'll be meeting Rey and find out what she's doing at the moment, so stay stoked!  
> Also, if you liked the intro, please know that every comment or Kudo makes my day! :)  
> (And if you want to scream at me for killing someone off during the first 1,000 words, you can do so on my twitter @moon2pluto)


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